Inland Empire Couple Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges Involving Sex Trafficking of a Child Who Worked as a Prostitute in Hemet

Inland Empire Couple Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges Involving Sex Trafficking of a Child Who Worked as a Prostitute in Hemet

RIVERSIDE, CA—Two Inland Empire residents have pleaded guilty to federal sex trafficking charge, admitting that they forced a 14-year-old girl to work as a prostitute in 2012.

Kawaum Marquez Scott, 24, of Quail Valley, and Nekeyia Necole Weatherspoon, who also used the name “Keey Bee,” 22, of Perris, pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court.

Scott pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a child, and Weatherspoon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking.

According to court documents, Scott and Weatherspoon forced the 14-year-old victim into prostitution. The defendants, who took photos of the victims and used the pictures to advertise services on the Internet, drove the victim to destinations in Hemet to engage in prostitution, made her use an alias, and advised her to tell male customers that she was 18 years old. Scott and Weatherspoon took all the money paid to the girl for the sex acts.

According to an affidavit filed in this case, on one occasion in October 2012, Scott and Weatherspoon brought the victim to a motel in Hemet, where she engaged in sex with multiple men over a two-day period and received approximately $2,500 in payment, all of which went to the defendants.

In plea agreements filed in court, prosecutors and the defense agreed that Scott should receive a sentence of 210 months and Weatherspoon should be sentenced to between 84 and 168 months in federal prison.

United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips will review a presentence report prior to accepting the agreed-upon sentences in this case. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 21.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which are members of the Inland Child Exploitation Task Force (ICEP), a multi-agency effort that investigates matters of child exploitation, primarily the sexual trafficking of minors.